Root-cutter.



PATENTED AUG. 6, 1907.

I F. J. HORRIGAN.

ROOT CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED 00121, 1906..

WT T N ESSES PATENT OFFICE FRANCIS J. HORRIGAN, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

ROOT-CUTTER.

Specification of Letters; Patent.

Patented Aug. 6, 1907.

Application filed October 1, 1906. Serial No. 336,839.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANoIs J. I-IoRRIoAN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Syracuse in the" county of Onondaga, in theState of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements inRoot-Cutters of which the following, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the class of machines which are designed tocut roots or analogous vegetables into small particles.

The invention resides especially in the attachment of the cutters to therotary cylinder.

The object of the invention is to render the said attachment simple inconstruction, secure and efficient in its operation and adjustable topermit the cutter to be reversed on its seat so as to present a newcutting edge to the vegetable to be operated on in case the previouslyused cutting edge is injured or worn out. And to that end the inventionconsists in the improved construction and combination of the componentparts of the attachment of the cutter as hereinafter described andclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a fragmentary side view of aroot-cutting machine which has its cutters attached to the rotarycylinder in accordance with my invention: Fig. 2 is an enlargedlongitudinal sectional view of a portion of the cylinder illustratingthe attachment of the cutter: and Fig. 3 is a transverse section on theline ZJCU in Fig. 2.

a represents the rotary cutting-cylinder which is hollow and has itsshaft b journaled in bearings c secured to the interior of the hopper 0.The end of the shaft b is usually provided with a suitable crank bywhich to rotate the cylinder.

dd denote the cutters which are rigidly mounted on the periphery of thecylinder a and usually arranged in spiral or staggering lines around thecylinder. The said arrangement of the cutters is immaterial to myinvention and therefore not illustrated in the accompanying drawings.The cutters -dd are each formed from a band or elongated plate of springsteel bowed semicircular at the central portion of its length to projectsufficiently from the cylinder to allow the cutter to operate on theroots introduced in the hopper o of the machine and reduce said roots tofine particles suitable for the purpose for which they are to be used.

I preferably sharpen both edges of the cutter as shown at i@' in Figs. 2and 3 of the drawings to allow either of said edges to be used forcutting the roots. The end portions -ee of the aforesaid cutter-plateare bent at right angles partway inward or toward each other to providethe cutter with a strong and narrow base which obviates outwardprojections of the base of the cutter at opposite sides thereof, whichprojections tend to gather scrapings of roots on the surface of thecylinder. In order to further guard against such effects and at the sametime retain the cutters in proper operative positions on the cylinder Iform the periphery of the cylin der a with rectangular recesses orsockets arranged staggering or in spiral lines around the cylinder andof proper size and depth to allow the bases of the cutters to beproperly seated therein. The center of each socket f is perforated asshown at -g and onto the end portions ee of the cutter is placed awasher h which is perforated at its center coinciding with theperforation of the socket. Said washer abuts with its side edges againstthe side portions of the cutter as shown in Fig. 2 to thoroughly tightenthe base of the cutter on the sides of the recess f. The entire exteriorof the washer is flush with the periphery of the cylinder a when thecutter is properly seated in socket f-. Through the perforations of thewasher and periphery of the cylinder passes a bolt n which is providedon its inner end with a nut j engaging the inner periphery of thecylinder aand firmly clamping the cutter in the socket f. The head ofthe bolt n is countersunk in the washer h, asshown in Figs. 2 and 3, toprevent said head from catching and gathering the substance operated onby the cutter. The cutter is sharpened at its front and rear edges andis reversible in its seat on the cylinder to allow the rear edge thereofto be presented at the front of the cutter when the latter is broken orinjured. The reversing of the cutter is readily accomplished byloosening the nut -j sufficiently to allow the base of the cutter to beraised out of the socket f and to be turned around and reseated in thesocket and fastened therein by tightening the nut j.

What I claim is:

In combination with the cylinder formed with recesses in its peripheralface, a series of cutters, each of which con sists of a plate bowedsemicircular at the central portion of its length and having its endportions deflected at right angles partway toward each other and seatedin one of the aforesaid recesses, a washer placed on said end portionsand having its entire exterior flush with the surface of the cylinder,and the attaching bolt having its head countersunk in the washersubstantially as set forth and shown.

FRANCIS J. HORRIGAN.

Witnesses J. .T. LAASS, E. LAASS.

